CONCERT JOSEPH PARSONS & TOM GILLAM
Cafe De Witte Bal, Assen NL - October 26th 2006
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After two years of committing all my Thursdaynights to making a radioshow,
it feels funny at first to be able to attend concerts again. But I'm in the
right mood real quick! The bus drops me off in the center of Assen and Cafe
De Witte Bal isn't even very hard to find in these small streets, dripping
with rain. JOSEPH PARSONS and his friend TOM GILLAM are unpacking their
gear, waiting for the soundcheck and it's sure good to see Joseph again!
It's been about eight years now, that I heard him first: a very pleasant
surprise opening for Russ Tolman's 2 Car Garage Band in Hamburg. I've been a
fan ever since and saw Joseph at various locations, playing solo or with
friends. Always great, the guy never has an off-night! Most remarkable
memories are probably Terry Lee Hale's birthdayparty in the building of a
former swimmingpool in Hannover and that night when I came to Philadelphia
on a train from Virginia with three hours delay, so Joseph and I ended up in
his car doing the sightseeing around 2 am... I didn't know Tom Gillam yet,
but his album "Shake My Hand" was very well received among DJ's and critics
here. Waiting for the sound engineer to come in, Joseph sets up his laptop
and tries to get an Internet signal, interesting to see how that works.
E-mail is the lifeline for musicians these days... While Tom is typing,
Joseph replaces all the strings on his acoustic guitar: "Better take no
risk!" and he tells that the long European tour is going great. The band
just went home and he stays on for a few more weeks of duo and solo shows.
We look at the portrait gallery on the walls of this very small place,
there's even an old picture of Terry Lee Hale with his dobro and still the
long hair! Joseph dropped the intellectual look (short hair, eyeglasses) and
went back to what we fans call his "angel" look, yes, I think everybody
likes this better. Soundcheck. Tom pulls out a beautiful Gretsch guitar and
the pieces of songs I hear, sound very promising. Joseph, ever professional,
checks the spotlights and makes sure Tom, who smiles and winks at the light,
gets his share. Done.
Half past eight exactly guitar tiger Tom takes the stage. Long dark hair,
black shirt, jeans and lots of flashy jewelry. His voice is strong and he
starts with the opening track of his album: "Outside The Lines". "I could
drive you crazy if you gave me time, I colored a little outside the lines".
He learned to say thank you in Dutch, always a nice touch! "Take It Easy On
Me", he usually plays it loud with his band but it's nice to do the songs a
bit more quietly, he states. The true story of "Stand By You" is followed by
the story about two desperate characters: "Abby & Andy". He's definitely an
impressive guitarplayer, especially with the slide, I can only imagine how
he will rock with a band! He is making fun of the guy who looks like Ozzie
and who's going to play guitar with Joseph. The audience agrees that Tom
looks like Ozzie. "They never say it in my face, always when I walk away, I
hear: "It's Ozzie!" No, it's NOT!" he jokes. He closes off with a song about
Dallas, from his previous album. "Believe me, there's nothing in Dallas!"
I've been there too and I totally agree with you, Tom!

After a fifteen minute break Tom returns to the stage, now together with
Joseph! He has combed the red curls and wears a white t-shirt with his
jeans, it has a drawing of hope and faith on it. First song, now I have to
take notice, as I don't know the ones from his brandnew album "The Fleury
Sessions" very well yet. Yes, this is "King Of Baltimore", followed by
"Taken By Surprise", both played nice & fast, while the sound is just
excellent and the audience has respect for the music, not talking too much.
A song from his former group 4 Way Street, "Change Gonna Come", about
"somebody walking around doing a little too much drugs", with a good harmony
from Tom's mouth. He's the perfect sideman, gesturing to Joseph that his
capo is in the wrong spot for "Circumstance", an old song from the album "5
am", which was just released in Europe when I first met Joseph. "Fool Again"
is new, about "a bar at home where we have fun but also cry in our beers"
and "Burnin' Fire" is even brandnew, as in not recorded yet. Joseph
declares: "One of the reasons I play music, is that I get to play with my
friends..." And he has obviously lots of fun doing that. "Accidents", a
Hardpan song. Todd Thibaud and Terry Lee Hale joined them for some shows in
Germany. Aah, those Hardpan concerts... Now Tom does a marvellous job on
originally Chris Burrough's guitar solo. He grabs the slide for a bluesy,
pithy take on 4 Way Street's "Shoot The Moon". "When you mention New Jersey,
everybody thinks The Sopranos, but it's actually a beautiful state, with
beaches..." Tom, who was born there, adds: "And lots of landfills..." "With
bodies you mean?" That appears to be the introduction to "Another Way
Around" from "The Vagabond Tales", which is done like a beautiful early
Springsteen, well, Joseph played Ashbury Park too... The set list is build
up very well. After a sunny "Sun Gonna Shine", the opening & closing track
of "The Fleury Sessions", Tom leaves the stage while Joseph plays two songs
solo. "Ceremony" ("One of my moody songs") dates back in the first version
to the "5 am" CD. He even offers to play requests, but how much I would like
to hear "Shy" or "World Without Shade", calling out titles asks for more
courage than I have available! Tom and his slide are back for "Shine", as
Joseph explains it has some deep thoughts about a person's inner self. He
goes on about beaches in Turkey and Australia, where he wrote the hopeful
song "First Sight", which impresses with a nice high harmony by Tom. "Good
Or Bad" is from "The Vagabond Tales" again and then comes the surprise with
Steve Earle's "Jerusalem"! Joseph went to Utah for his sister's wedding and
at night he heard this song being played around the campfire, so he and Todd
Thibaud decided to add it to the setlist of this tour. After "200 Miles",
another oldie, the crowdpleasing "Crocodile" arrives! Joseph and Tom turn
their toothy pet animal into a mean bluesrocker this time and I expect this
to be the last song but Joseph closes off with a moving "Memories".
Originally about his neighbor who went to Vietnam: "I think about it every
day, those kids in Iraq, these stupid wars..." It ends in a piece of "All
Along The Watchtower" and then one-and-a-half hours with nineteen songs are
over, leaving the audience a bit dazed and definitely overwhelmed by the
smashing show. But I have to pull myself together real quick, as I have only
seven minutes left before I have to hurry to the busstop for my last bus. I
want a copy of that new album "The Fleury Sessions" and Joseph hasn't
autographed my "Vagabond Tales" yet... It works out, I end up in the bus
with my two autographed CD's and when I walk home I see for the third night
in a row this gorgeous big mushroom. The kind we drew when we were kids, red
with white spots on the hood. Nobody, not even a dog, kicked it over. Maybe
the world isn't that bad after all...
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Written by Johanna J. Bodde, October 28th 2006, for Insurgent Country,
Germany.
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